The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday restrained the West Bengal Government from issuing any notification for elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) till November 6, while reserving its order on a petition challenging the delimitation of wards and the increase in their number from 144 to 209 ahead of the upcoming civic polls, Live Law reported.

Source: Live Law

A vacation bench passed the interim order after expressing prima facie satisfaction that the powers of an elected Corporation could not be vested in an Administrator by the State Government. The Court observed that the KMC Act required the State to act on the recommendation of the Corporation — so if an Administrator appointed by the State could exercise the Corporation's powers, it would effectively mean, in the bench's words, that "the State Government is giving an instruction to itself".

Petitioners: an Administrator cannot wield an elected body's powers

Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the delimitation notification was issued in September, when no elected KMC council was in existence: the Corporation had been dissolved on June 8 and its Chairperson, Smita Pandey, was subsequently appointed Administrator with only administrative functions. He argued an Administrator could not exercise the legislative powers of an elected Corporation, particularly when she was herself an employee of the Corporation, and alleged that the exercise amounted to gerrymandering carried out without application of mind, including on its financial implications. These are the petitioners' allegations and arguments; the court has not decided them.

Source: Live Law

State: no council approval was needed for delimitation

Advocate General Surajit Nath Mitra, opposing the petition for the State, submitted that the government was not required to obtain the KMC council's approval to undertake delimitation, that the Administrator had been vested with all the powers of the Corporation, and that the challenge was barred by Article 243ZG of the Constitution, under which municipal delimitation matters can be questioned only through an election petition after elections. The Election Commission's counsel told the court it had no information on when the elections would be notified, and the Advocate General confirmed the election process had not commenced. Nation Press also reported the restraint, noting that polls for seven urban civic bodies in Bengal, including the KMC and Howrah Municipal Corporation, are expected in the last week of December.

Source: Nation Press

This restraint is a significant escalation from the position last week, when a single-judge bench declined to intervene for now and ordered the state to file its affidavit within four weeks. Read the October 29 report

What happens next is set by the November 6 date: until the court pronounces its order, the State cannot formally start the KMC poll process on the new ward map, even as preparations continue for civic elections across seven Bengal urban bodies expected by year-end.